Distributing tray



Oct. 13, 1925. 1,556,684

C. M. GARDNER DISTRIBUTING TRAY Filed Dec; 10. 1924 '3 Sheets-Sheet 1 696 .9 EH-l L 5 3 if ii i3 Oct. 13, 1925- 6.684

C. M. GARDNER DISTRIBUTING TRAY Filed Dec 10. 1924 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FMl 35111 Oct. 13,1925. 1,556,684

C. M. GARDNER DISTRIBUTING TRAY Filed Dec; 10, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet f5 Toall whom it may concern:

Patented Oct. 13, 192 5.

PATENT OFFICE.

CLAYTON M. GARDNER, OFST. REGIS FALLS, NEW YORK.

DISTRIBUTING TRAY.

Application filed December 10, 1924. Serial- No. 755,112.

Be it known that I CLAYTON M. GARDNER, a citizen of the United Statesresiding at St. Regis Falls, in the county of Franklin and State of NewYork, have invented anew and useful Distributing Tray of which thefollowing'is a specification.

This invention relates to a distributing tray for refrigerators, iceboxes, ice counters and the like.

. The object of the invention is to provide a tray for use inrefrigerating structures constructed so that the contents of the traymay be displayed without an inrush of warm air, or an outrush of coldair from the reilriger 1 ator being caused.

Another object is to so construct device of this character as to preventthe possibilities of flies entering the chamber while the tray is beingwithdrawn or inserted.

Another object is to provide atray of this character which is sanitaryand easily cleaned and the use of which effects a great saving in theice.

Another object is to provide, a. tray of this character having an innerand an outer door forming a part thereof and so arranged that theyautomatically close and open with the movement of the tray outward orinwardl T as the case may be.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it belng understood that changes in the preciseembodiment herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what isclaimed without departing from the spirit of the invention, I y

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1' represents a front elevation of arefrigerator, ice counteror the like equipped with a plurality of theseimproved trays r showing the invention applied to a singlewalledstructure;

FigJS is a top plan partly in horizontal section thereof; and

Fig. 9 is a detail section of the telescopic rod used.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 a refrigerator casing 1 isshown which may be a cooling counter, an ice box or the like in whichfood of a perishable nature is kept. The front wall 2 of therefrigerator 1 is made double as shown clearly in FigsQ and S the frontand rear sections 3 and 4 of which are spaced laterally apart and eachequipped with'doors 5' and 6 which close openings 7 and 8 in the wallsections through which the tray 10 is designed to pass. The door 5 whichcloses the opening 7 in the outer wall section is carried by the slidingtray while the door 6 is hinged to swing have spring hinges for closingthem when the tray is drawn out any suitable form of hinges being used.Brackets 20 are arranged inside the refrigerator on the inner wall ofthe wall section 4 and are designed to support the doors 6when swungdownwardly and which also operate assupports for the trays when inretracted position.

' .It is of course understood that any desired number of trays 10 may beemployed according to the size of the refrigerator and the goods tobecontained therein. Each of these trays are exactly alike and hence oneonly will be described in detail. The doors 5 which are carriedby thesetrays 10 are eaclrequipped on their outer faces with hand grips 5'tofacilitate pushing in and pulling out of the trays. I A drip pan 9 islocated'in the bottom of the refrigerator chamberbelow the traysand isdesigned to receive any drip from said trays. The drip pan 9 also slidesin and out and is provided on its outer end with a closure 9 and anopening through which it passes and has hand grips 9 to facilitatemovement thereof.

The trays 10 each comprises a food container ll of any shape or sizeslidably mounted on parallel rods 12 connected at their front ends by aplate 13 which is designed to fit within the opening 7 of the front wall3 of the refrigerator forming a portion of the closure 5, the otherportion thereof being in the form of a plate 14 secured to the outerface of plate 13 and of a size larger than said plate so as to overlapthe walls of the opening 7 to prevent the closure from passing into therefrigerator and to form an air tightjoint at this point. The connectorswhich mount the tray or the container 11 on the rods 12 are shown in theform of inverted U-shaped hangers 15 fixed to the bottom of thecontainer 11 at opposite sides thereof and adapted to straddle the rods12 as is shown clearly in Fig. 6. This mounting of the container 11 onthe rods permits it to be positioned at any location 'on said rod and tobe removed therefrom when desired.

Parallel rods 16 are arranged below the rods 12 in vertical alinementtherewith and are connected with said rods at their inner ends byupstanding fingers 17 connected by a cross rod 18. The fingers 17 extendabove the rods 12 and are connected by a cross rod 19. The tracks orrods 16 are connected at their front ends to the plat-e 13 and aremounted in guides or bearings 16 mounted on one of the walls of therefrigerator.

The hinged closures 6 are each provided on their outer faces with anobliquely extending finger 6 which is designed to be detachably engagedwith the rod 18 of the tray for limiting the forward movement of thetray and for closing the closure 6 when the tray is drawn outwardly toits full extent as is shown olearly in Figs. 3 and 4. lVhen the tray ismoved inwardly the track rods 16 will force the closure 6 downwardlyagainst the bracket 20 and permit the tray to be moved in to its fullextent, as shown in Fig. 3 and when so moved the closure 5 will closethe opening in the outer wall section 3 of the refrigerator and preventthe cold air from rushing out and the hot air from rushing in.

From the above description it will be obvious that by grasping one ofthe handles 5 and exerting an outward pull thereon the tray connectedtherewith will follow and 'move outwardly causing-the rod 18 to have ahook-like engagement with the handle 6" and close the closure 6' asshown in Fig. 3 so that access may be obtained to the container 11 whichholds the meat or other articles to be displayed ordistributed and theclosure 6 being closed prevents the cold air of the refrigerator rushingout and hot air from rushing in.

A refrigerator or refrigerating counter equipped with these trays willobviously be very useful in stores and will effect a great economy inthe cooling of the counter as well as protecting the contents from theentrance of flies, dust and the like while the contents of one tray isbeing exhibited.

In Figs. 7 and 8 these improved trays are shown applied to a singlewalled structure, the other form representing the application of theinvention to a double wall.

The distributing tray shown in these Figures 7 and 8 comprises askeleton frame mounted to slide back and forth in keepers 31 mounted onthe upper face of a shelf 32 which projects forwardly from the loweredge of an opening 33 formed in the wall 34 of the refrigerator, counteror other structure in connection with which the tray is to be used.

These keepers 31 are transversely alined and spaced apart and slidablyreceive the side rods 35 of the frame 30. These rods are secured attheir front ends to a closure 36 which may be of any suitable or desiredconstruction being here shown formed of superposed boards 37 and 38adapted to fit and close the mouth which surrounds the opening 33, thebottom wall of which is formed by the shelf 32. This closure 36 ispreferably provided with a hand grip 39 to facilitate its opening andclosing movement as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The rear ends of the side bars 35 are bent upwardly at right angles asshown at 40 and are connected by a cross bar 41 which is preferably madeintegral therewith, a rod 42 connects the lower ends of the upstandingmember 40 and forms a brace for them preventing them from spreadingapart. A tray or container 43 is suspended from the cross rod 41 and theupper section of the closure 36 by links 44 and 45 which are looselyconnected with these members and with the tray as is shown clearly inFig. 7. These links are arranged in pairs at the front and rear of thecontainer and permit the chain to be swingably supported.

An inwardly opening closure 46 is hinged to the innerface of the wall 44adjacent the lower edge of the opening 33 and which in opening isdesigned to rest on a supporting bracket 47 the wall 34. This closure 40may be of any suitable or desired construction being shown adapted tofit tightly within the opening 33 when closed. A rearwardly extendinghook 48 is fixed to the outer end of said closure near its outer end andis designed to engage the cross rod 42 when the tray is moved outwardlya predetermined distance so that the further movement of the tray willoperate to swing the member 46 upward into closed position and thusprevent the outrush of cold air from the interior-of the refrigeratorand the inrush of hot air.

The hinges 49 which connect the closure 46 with the wall 34 arepreferably made in the form of spring hinges to assist in closing theclosure 46 when the tray is moved outwardly.

In the use of this tray the operation is similar to that shown in theother figures, the pulling out of the closure36 operates to draw with itthe frame which carries the food container 43 and when this framereaches a predetermined point the rod 42 engages the hook 48 and swingsthe the container 33 may be inspected and re-.

moved if desired.

hen it is desired to "frestore the tray to the interior of therefrigerator the frame 30 is moved inwardly into the position shown inFigs. 7 and 8 the opening 33 closed by the closure 36 and the closure 46opened down to form a support for the tray.

The side bars of the tray frame 30 may be made in the form oftelescopically en'- gaged sections 50'and 51 as shown in Fig. 9 toadaptthe frame for use in connection with shorter or longer trays asdesired. The section 50 has at, its outer or rear end upstanding arms 40similar to those shown in the other figures which are connected at theirouter ends by a cross rod 42*.

I claim:

1. A refrigerating chamber having a double wall with registeringopenings in the sections thereof, a tray mounted to slide through saidopenings, a closure for the opening in the outer section carried by theouter end of said tray, a hinged closure for the opening in the innersection, cooperating means carried by said hinged closure and said trayto be engaged on the outward movement of the tray so that said closurewill be positively closed by the movement of the tray to its extremoutward position, the closure carried by the tray being adapted to closethe opening in the outer section when the tray is moved to its extremeinward position.

2. The combination with a double Walled structure having registeringopenings in the wall sections, a closure for the opening in the innerwall section, said closure being hinged to swing downwardly and providedon its inner face with an upwardly and out wardly inclined finger, atray slidable through said opening and including laterally spacedparallel rods connected at their front and rear ends, a food containerdetachably and slidably mounted on said rod, a closure carried by thefront edge of said rod and designed to close the opening in the outerWall section when the tray is moved inwardly and means carried by saidrod for.

detachably engaging the finger on the inner closure on the outwardmovement of the tray whereby said closure is closed.

3. A chamber having an opening in one wall thereof, a tray mounted toslide through said opening, a closure for said opening mounted on thelower wall of said opening to swing downwardly, and cooperating means onsaid closure and tray whereby when the tray is moved outward to itsextreme limit the closure will be positively closed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature CLAYTON M. GARDNER.

